Public Education Council

The Public Education Council improves the quality of resources the Foundation provides. The Council serves to develop, review and oversee the educational materials and programs the Foundation provides.

Free Patient Education Materials

We provide free patient education materials on urologic health to patients, caregivers, community organizations, healthcare providers, students and the general public, pending availability. Take advantage by building your shopping cart now!

Summer UHe Highlights

Here is some hard truth about Kidney Stones. There are several types of kidney stones. All of them can be painful. But how you treat them and prevent new ones from forming depends on the type of stone you have.

Lifestyle Tips For Good Urologic Health

You can get on track for good urologic health with better eating habits and small changes to your lifestyle. Read our Living Healthy section to find healthy recipes and fitness tips to manage and prevent urologic conditions.

What are Varicoceles?

Varicoceles

A varicocele is when veins become enlarged inside your scrotum (the pouch of skin that holds your testicles). These veins are called the pampiniform plexus. Ten to 15 of every 100 males have a varicocele. It is like getting a varicose vein in your leg.

What Happens Normally?

The male reproductive system makes, stores, and moves sperm. The scrotum is the sac of skin that holds the testicles (testes). Sperm and the hormone testosterone are made in the testicles. Sperm mature while moving through a coiled tube (the epididymis) behind each testicle.

Sperm travel to the prostate from each epididymis using a tube called the vas deferens. When you ejaculate, seminal fluid mixes with sperm in the prostate to form semen. The semen travels through the urethra and comes out the end of your penis.

The spermatic cord holds the vas deferens and the testicular artery, which brings blood to the testicle. It also houses the pampiniform plexus, a group of connected veins that drains the blood from the testicles. The pampiniform plexus cools blood in the testicular artery before it enters the testicles. This helps keep it at the temperature needed to make sperm.

What are Varicoceles?

Varicoceles are when the pampiniform plexus veins in the scrotum become enlarged. These veins are like varicose veins in the leg. Varicoceles form during puberty, and can grow larger and easier to notice over time. Varicoceles are more common on the left side of the scrotum. This is because the male anatomy isn't the same on both sides. Varicoceles can exist on both sides at the same time, but this is rare. About 10 to 15 boys out of 100 have a varicocele.

Most of the time, varicoceles cause no problems and are harmless. Less often varicoceles can cause pain, problems fathering a child, or 1 testicle to grow slower or shrink.